The present invention relates to pay television systems, and particularly to those systems wherein the charge to the subscriber depends upon the programs accepted by him. More particularly, it relates to subscriber television systems wherein a program identification number is associated with each program and the charge to the subscriber accepting the program is a function of the program identification number. Previous billing systems which utilized billing cards which were punched upon acceptance of the program by the subscriber have a number of difficulties including the need for a considerable amount of subscriber effort both in inserting the card and mailing it later and the fact that the storage space on the card is limited, therefore either limiting the number of programs for each billing period or having relatively short billing periods. These systems are of course also liable to errors arising from mutiliation of the cards, mailing delays, etc.